Car financing with not-so-brilliant-credit

[Umar B]

Can any of you help with a query i have? I wanted to get peoples opinions on what would be the right option for me.

To cut a long sorty short, im coming out the other end of a crappy 2010 where i lost my job, savings, car, prized possesions and almost the roof over my head. I struggled to find a job for a long time but thankfully my luck has been a lot better in 2011, almost a silver lining if you like, been in my current job since february and earning more than before i lost my job. Happy days.

However the flip side to that was i had to sell a lot of things so that i could save the house and cut back a whole lot too, so the car had to be sold. Now things are a lot better and the finances are under control (i have savings for the first time in ages!) i want to look at getting a car.

One option is the bargain banger route, but another is leasing. Having now put a large dent in my credit history file with a couple of defaults (but no CCJs) and a few missed payments i dont know if its worth concidering a lease/PCP/HP for a car, is it worth going to a dealer like ford/vauxall or go to a leasing/finance company. I know the interest rates will be higher but has anybody else had to go through the same thing and can you share some of your experiance too?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[anonymous-user]

I would suggest you learn from your lesson from last year and avoid credit for the time being and go the banger route. You've been in your current job for less than a year so you have very limited employment rights and could be let go with minimal notice. How long could you survive realistically without getting into trouble again if this happened next week, could you afford the additional payments for a car in that situation?

If you haven't already then make sure you make up any missed payments from your previous period of unemployment to repair you credit record as best you can.

[0a]

I'd get something boring, dependable and re-sellable like a 1.6 focus. Times can change easily, I've found that credit is very difficult to get right now if you don't have a perfect history. Put the monthly payments aside and upgrade in a year or two.